Bird-watching notes and bird-related thoughts from the suburbs of North London...

Thursday, 8 March 2012

Often heard, seldom seen

There is an old patch of hedgerow in the park near where I work. I can only presume that it is the remnant of a field boundary from the days when what is now North London was mostly farmland (there is most definitely an old farmhouse, now a museum, nearby).

When walking past this patch, I often hear the distinctive ‘yaffle’ call of a Green Woodpecker. This is one of my favourite bird calls, although I do find it slightly mocking – as if the woodpecker is telling me that I can hear him, but I can’t see him.

I really should take my binoculars to work so I can do a spot of semi-serious birdwatching during my lunch hour.

Today, though, I heard two Green Woodpeckers calling to each other, and I even managed to figure out which tree one of them was calling from. I couldn’t see him though. I stood watching and listening for five minutes and then, just as I was about to give up, I saw a flash of yellow-green flying from the tree to another one. I only saw it for a couple of seconds, but it was most definitely the woodpecker.